Page 179 of A Mysterious Slave for the Lycan Prince

“Slaves were not allowed to have mates,” Freya reminds me.

Right, I almost forgot about that. Colton, that bastard. “I come from a family and pack that truly cherishes the mate bond. There will not be any forced matings.”

Gina’s eyes light up at my words.

“I’m going to get my high school diploma,” Freya tells her. “I hope you’ll join the fun so we can suffer together.”

“We can go back to school?” one of the younger guys asks in surprise.

“Of course.”

“But we are all orphans,” another one points out. He is clearly a minor. “We need to earn our money.”

“For underaged orphans, the pack will provide everything,” I say with finality. “And now let’s move out of this rat hole.”

“I want a room on the west side,” Gina suddenly exclaims. “It has a nice view of the mountains.”

“Me too,” another girl exclaims.

Soon, they all are sticking their heads together and making plans. Ludovica looks at me, her eyes swimming in tears. “Thank you,” she whispers.

I link some of my warriors to come down and help the girls. With Arman’s help, I’ve only kept those I’m sure are innocent. Everyone else has been brought to Silverlake for questioning. Unfortunately, those allowed to stay are of lower rank and hence not trained well, but we’ll work on it. They are here in less than five minutes and eager to help. After the first initial shock and wariness from the former slaves, they seem to warm up to them and accept the help.

Freya stays with them to help, and ensures everyone gets a room.

Meanwhile, I accompany Ludovica upstairs and towards the empty dining room. “I’d like to remain the kitchen chef,” she says quietly. “If that’s alright with you, Alpha.”

“Of course. I’m glad you are volunteering for the task,” I tell her. “Ludovica, please make sure the others have everything they need. They don’t trust me yet, and I can sympathize, so I need to rely on your help.”

She nods with a smile.

“I’ll probably have a lot of questions for you,” I point out. “I don’t want to bother the poor souls with them, but I need details of all the things that happened, and I know no one was more aware of it than you.” I pause. “You were always trying to mend the broken pieces, after all.”

“So many I couldn’t save, though,” Ludovica says quietly, sadness and regret in her eyes. “I just tried to shield my kids from the pain of reality.”

“You did more than anyone else,” I say. “You gave everything.” I look at her insistently. “I know you just volunteered to keep control over the kitchen, but wouldn’t you rather lead the orphanage? We’ll need one for our orphaned minors.”

Silverlake doesn’t need an orphanage. Orphaned pups typically find foster parents immediately, but the pack members of Ocean Snow have so much to deal with that it’s impossible to have them adopt a child so fast.

Ludovica stares at me, her eyes wide. “Alpha Finn,” she blurts out. “I would truly love to do that! You would let me?”

“Of course! They trust you, and you are like a mother to them already. Maybe we could hire one or two other girls to help you.” I smile. “You could put together a team for the kitchen too. In this case, I trust your judgment more than mine.”

Ludovica has tears in her eyes. “I’ve never been blessed with pups of my own. Oh, this is just… all I’ve ever wanted. I won’t disappoint you, Alpha!”

Before I can say something though, I can hear footsteps. Matthew is approaching me with long strides, Emmanuel running after him. “Alpha Finn,” he yells. “I’m sorry, Alpha, for interrupting you, but you will want to hear this!”

“What happened?”

“That dickhead of an alpha,” he blurts out. “He had his warriors engage the so-called slaves in some sick games. Like drinking games in which they beat up a group of slaves in turns, they would sometimes chain them outside to whip them,” Matthew continues. “Emmanuel told me all about it! And that he had an underground escape route around the lake. Maybe some warriors are still hiding there!”

Emmanuel finally catches up with him and grabs his arm. “I told you not to get angry.”

“How can any decent person not get angry,” he grumbles, but Emmanuel’s touch calms him down.

“That’s valuable information,” I say, linking Arman to have him check on what Matthew just told me. His mate, Emmanuel, seems aware of many things, though. I will need to keep that in mind. We’ll certainly need someone who can think fast and sharp like this boy. “Thank you, Emmanuel. How did you find out?”

“As a slave and unwanted child, I was used to sneaking around.” He grins. “My life was constantly at risk anyway, so I decided to make the most out of it and spied on the warriors sometimes.”

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